Maomao was momentarily stunned.
Faced with Aunt Ruxue's question, she chose this time to confront her true feelings:
"Aunt Ruxue, I want to stay here long-term... is that... okay?"
Lin Yu took a deep breath, silently cheering for Maomao in his heart.
For most people,
making requests to their "parents" might be an utterly trivial matter—
so insignificant it barely even counts as a request.
But Lin Yu understood just how much courage it took for Maomao to voice her true thoughts at this moment.
Or perhaps it would be better to consider courage from another angle...
From Aunt Ruxue's perspective, the one posing the question also needed immense bravery!
Ever since meeting Maomao and Aunt Ruxue, Lin Yu had pieced together their story using the information they provided and the insights from his dreams.
One had faced discrimination abroad.
The other had lost her parents after growing old enough to understand.
Two people who had endured profound emotional pain had become each other's light in their respective worlds.
The adult was learning how to love.
The child was trying to reclaim love.
No matter how you looked at it,
judging by their current relationship, the beautiful memories far outweighed the hardships.
At this moment,
the one attempting to let go must have been suffering far more than the one striving for independence.
So, Aunt Ruxue needed even greater courage than Maomao.
Du Ruxue's expression revealed neither joy nor anger as she replied calmly:
"Sure, staying long-term at Mengmeng’s place sounds like a good idea to me."
Maomao’s tense body instantly relaxed.
She finally understood what it meant to feel a weight lift off her shoulders.
"But..."
Du Ruxue’s tone shifted, making Maomao’s heart leap again.
Everything before "but" could be ignored—
what came after was the real point to remember!
As if deliberately building suspense, Du Ruxue picked up her glass, took a sip of water, and paused before speaking.
The moment she set the glass down...
it was as if a switch had been flipped...
A server who had been completely out of sight suddenly appeared like a ghost beside their table.
"Honored guests, may I refill your water?"
Without waiting for a response, the server began pouring.
Lin Yu watched with deep admiration.
"......"
"Thank you."
Once the water was poured, Du Ruxue finally continued:
"But you’ve never lived independently before. I can’t rest easy leaving you alone out here."
"If you can’t even find your way around, how can you learn to take care of yourself?"
Maomao lowered her head, her heart heavy with disappointment.
Sigh.
So even speaking her mind couldn’t change the outcome.
Aunt Ruxue’s words were undeniably true, leaving Maomao no room to argue.
Her ability to manage daily life was practically nonexistent.
Staying inside the apartment without going out would, of course, prevent any mishaps.
But Maomao asked herself...
Was what she truly wanted just moving from one big, empty house to another crowded one?
Stepping out would only mean walking into another kind of confinement.
Yet.
The conversation wasn’t over.
Du Ruxue spoke again:
"So, to make you give up completely, I prepared three challenges for you last night!"
"For the next week, I’ll stay in Pingchuan City."
"If you complete all three, it’ll prove you’re capable of living independently."
"Your request will be granted—you can stay as long as you want."
"But if you fail, you’ll come home with me without complaint."
"And for the next three years, you won’t bring up living away again."
Maomao: "!!!"
Hearing this, Maomao’s eyes instantly lit up.
There was still a chance?
It wasn’t over yet!
The direction of her future life was still in her own hands!
"Deal, Aunt Ruxue! I accept!"
Without even hearing what the challenges were, Maomao agreed immediately.
Lin Yu wasn’t entirely surprised by this outcome.
At least from yesterday’s interactions, it was clear Aunt Ruxue wasn’t entirely indifferent to Maomao’s feelings.
But this woman... she was so contradictory!
Even Lin Yu couldn’t tell whether she wanted Maomao to succeed or fail.
Maybe she didn’t even know herself.
One thing was certain, though...
Aunt Ruxue understood Maomao inside out!
Using a "competition" or "challenge" to motivate the stubbornly competitive Maomao to give it her all—
only someone who had her completely figured out could devise such a tactic.
Lin Yu took a sip from his glass, savoring the complexity of this bond that transcended a typical mother-daughter relationship.
Just then,
the familiar server materialized beside him again,
repeating the same script—and giving him a minor heart attack in the process.
Seeing Maomao’s newfound confidence, Du Ruxue scoffed:
"Maomao, don’t mistake this for kindness."
"It’s just a little game to make you face reality."
"Let’s start with the first challenge. If you pass, we’ll move to the next."
"If you can’t even clear the first one, the rest won’t matter."
Instantly,
all eyes turned to Du Ruxue.
Maomao leaned forward intently, not wanting to miss a single word.
Then,
Du Ruxue revealed the challenge:
"The first task..."
"Spend 30 million yuan within 24 hours."
"Use it to buy 'daily necessities' for yourself in Pingchuan City."
"Cars, property, designer bags, luxury watches..."
"Anything you think you’ll need over the next two years—buy whatever you want."
"The money must be spent, not saved or invested in any form!"
"If you fail to spend it all in 24 hours, the challenge is over."
Maomao: "!!!"
Chen Qimeng: "!!!"
Lin Yu: "!!!"
Now this was what you called a bombshell!
Maomao was shocked because, in all her life, she’d never spent such an astronomical sum.
Anything she needed had always been provided for her!
Figuring out what to buy and where to splurge was completely outside her experience.
Chen Qimeng was floored by her friend’s staggering wealth.
She knew Du Ruxue was rich, but this rich?
30 million yuan...
just to test a child’s growth?
This was a lifestyle she couldn’t even dream of.
As for Lin Yu, his shock stemmed from...
wanting to check Du Ruxue’s ID to see if it read "Wang Duoyu’s Second Uncle"!
30 million?
Why not make it a billion while you’re at it?!
The games of the wealthy were bafflingly consistent—and infuriating.
Why not let him try?
He’d never handled big money either,
but he’d blow through it all in a day, guaranteed!
...
(Extra chapter delivered! That’s all for today’s update. Goodnight, friends! If you have time, check out the ads—support the author with some love-powered electricity!)
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
